H x W x D: 41 x 36 x 36 cm (16 1/8 x 14 3/16 x 14 3/16 in.)
Type:
Ceramics
Geography:
Western Inter-Lacustrine region, Uganda
Date:
Mid-20th century
Label Text:
Handbuilt by a male potter, this glossy blackware vessel was used to hold water. It has an ovoid body and a rounded base, a short neck and a relatively small mouth and everted rim. It was coil built, pebble polished and fired at a low temperature. After the firing, the potter covered the entire surface of the vessel with graphite and then rubbed it to produce the characteristic silvery black sheen of Nyoro pottery.
Originally potters sold this blackware to the local elite and to European visitors. Later, middlemen carried these vessels to larger towns.
Description:
Dark colored ovoid shaped vessel with a narrow neck, small mouth and graphite burnished surface.
Provenance:
Michael Graham-Stewart, London
Exhibition History:
Currents: Water in African Art, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., June 2016-ongoing
Art of the Personal Object, National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., September 24, 1991-April 9, 2007
Published References:
Kreamer, Christine Mullen. 2003. " A Tribute to Roy Sieber: Part 2." African Arts 36 (2), p. 27, no. 33.
National Museum of African Art. 1999. Selected Works from the Collection of the National Museum of African Art. Washington, D.C.: National Museum of African Art, Smithsonian Institution, p. 163.
Content Statement:
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